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PHOTO DESIGN BOOK

I have modeled PHOTO DESIGN after my wildly successful first book on composition for nature photographers. It is currently being taught at art colleges, universities and countless workshops and photography classes. This book is for general photographers with specialties of any kind. Please see the Table of Contents and the sample pages below.

SAMPLE PAGES

SAMPLE COMPOSITION MAPS

PURCHASE PHOTO DESIGN

PHOTO DESIGN: Image Design and Composition for Photographers is a compilation of 40+ years of image making experience. I started studying composition at about age 10 and I dug through libraries, harassed art teachers, talked with fellow painters, and gleaned everything I could from everyone about composition for years. It was a grey area for me. And there was no internet back then so I had to travel and make telephone calls for my knowledge.

When I became interested in photography I had to learn how to use a film camera, and then I had to learn all about light and film. And then digital! It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of trial-and-error, and a lot of work to learn it all but here it is, in one book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Author

10

About the Book

10

About the Images

10

Chapter One: Design in Photography

11

The Visual Language

11

The Importance of Learning Design

12

Demystifying Composition

12

Communicating Without Words

13

Chapter Two: Photography in American History

14

Early Cameras

14

The Hand Camera

14

Composing the Early Photographs

15

Innovations in Technology

15

Kodachrome

15

The Digital Camera

16

The Selfie

16

Photography as an Important Art

16

Ansel Adams: A Force in Nature

17

The Greatest Assignment

17

The Zone System

17

Chapter Three: The Visual Experience

18

Approaching The Photographic Image

18

Response to Unfamiliar Art and Styles

18

Beauty In Photography

19

Is It Art?

20

Reading Photographs

21

Evaluating A Photograph

22

Artist’s Intent

22

Emotional Impact

22

Evaluating the Light

23

Structure

24

Execution

25

Sample Technical Execution Mistakes

25

Advanced Evaluation

26

Evaluating Black and White Photographs

34

Evaluation Overview

35

Chapter Four: The Photographic Experience

36

The Art Of Observation

36

Visualizing the Composition

37

Individual Expression

38

More Than Seeing

38

Developing A Personal Style

39

Evaluating Your Progress

40

Evaluating Your Photographs

40

Chapter Five: Considerations For Purpose

41

Horizontal Or Vertical Format

41

Final Format

43

Contrast and Size

43

Sharpness

43

Mood

43

Chapter Six: The Physical Photograph

45

The Frame

45

Edges

45

Mistakes on the Edge

45

Cropping Joints and Limbs on the Edge

47

Image Divisions

49

Chapter Seven: Designing The Tangibles

50

Organizing The Composition

50

Unity and Balance: A Good Start

50

Subject Matter

51

Define Subject Matter

51

Treatment of Subject Matter

52

The Main Or Solitary Subject

52

Distance and Size

52

Lens Selection

52

The Effects of Distance on Detail and Color

52

Positioning the Main Subject

53

Centering the Subject for Emphasis

53

Dealing with Unwanted Objects in the Scene

53

Subject Placement Techniques

55

Focal Points

60

Living Subjects as Focal Points

60

Focal Points and Balance

60

Focal Points and a Visual Path

60

Multiple and Competing Main Focal Points

60

Lines

61

Straight Lines

61

Vertical Lines

61

Horizontal Lines

61

Diagonal Lines

62

Converging and Diverging Lines

62

Groups of Lines

62

Arcs

62

Curved Lines

62

Zig-zags and Odd-shaped Lines

63

Repetitive Lines

63

Suggested or Implied Lines

63

Creating Fluidity, Movement, and Motion with Lines

65

Tension Created by Lines

65

Shape And Form

66

Shapes and Forms as Structural Elements

66

Texture of Forms

66

Spatial Organization and the Relationships of Forms and Shapes

66

Shapes and Forms and Balance

66

The Emotional Effects of Shapes and Forms

68

Forms, Shapes and Rhythm

68

Forms, Shapes and Unity

68

Chapter Eight: Designing The Intangibles

69

Light’s Role in Photography

69

The Sun’s Trek through the Sky

69

The Effects of the Sweet Light

69

Reflections: Diffuse and Specular

70

Shadows

70

Direction of Light

71

Front Light

71

Side Light

71

Back Light

71

Top Light

71

Reflected Light

71

Photographing the Effects of Weather

72

Clouds

72

Fog

73

Rain

74

Rainbows

74

Color

75

Basic Color Terminology

76

Analogous Hues

77

Monochromatic

77

Gradations

77

Complementary Colors

77

Neutrals

77

Choose Colors to Influence and Create Mood

78

Creating Color Harmony

78

Color Continuity

79

The Perceived Weight of Colors

79

Space and Depth

80

Negative Space

80

The Picture Plane

82

Line of Sight

82

The Ground Plane

82

Achieving Visual Balance

82

Using the Rule-of-Thirds Grid

83

Using Symmetry

83

Angles And Height

85

Chapter Nine: Popular Composition Styles

86

Bulls-eye Composition

86

Near-Far

86

Layers

87

Close-up

87

Abstract

87

Composition Maps

88

Map One: Multiple Main Focal Points and a Visual Path

89

Map Two: Lines – Cradle the Subject

91

Map Three: Subject Merge

93

Map Four: Perspective

95

Map Five: Supporting Focal Points and Weight Distribution

97

Map Six: Types of Borders

99

Map Seven: Layers

101

Map Eight: Horizon Line Placement

103

Map Nine: Structure and the Rule-of-Thirds Grid

105

Map Ten: Rule of Thirds Lines and Power points

107

Map Eleven: Value Distribution and Shapes

109

Map Twelve: Harmonious Image Division

111

Map Thirteen: Off-center Placement

113

Map Fourteen: Cool vs. Warm Hues

115

Map Fifteen: Competing Focal Points and Image Division

117

Map Sixteen: Visual Tension

119

Map Seventeen: Distractions

121

Map Eighteen: Organize Basic Elements

123

Map Nineteen: Compare Compositions

125

Map Twenty: Structure and Content Division

127

Glossary

129

PURCHASE PHOTO DESIGN

PHOTO DESIGN: Image Design and Composition for Photographers is a compilation of 40+ years of image making experience. I started studying composition at about age 10 and I dug through libraries, harassed art teachers, talked with fellow painters, and gleaned everything I could from everyone about composition for years. It was a grey area for me. And there was no internet back then so I had to travel and make telephone calls for my knowledge.

When I became interested in photography I had to learn how to use a film camera, and then I had to learn all about light and film. And then digital! It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of trial-and-error, and a lot of work to learn it all but here it is, in one book.